Oh hello 36,000 feet!
2019 is by far the year of travel for me. The Grand Adventure (as I have now decided to refer to it as) started on 11th February and is planned to cover a number of months, a fair amount of destinations and given the best intentions, an awful lot of new experiences. So far the first 30 days have not disappointed!
11th February - 12th March: A Summary Countries visited: 3 (Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand)
Kilometres travelled: 12,608.8 by car and plane
Steps walked (when I actually had my FitBit on!): 303,700
Successful kayaking journeys: 2 (to a beach in Ha Long Bay and back, seen as I got out in the middle I am counting it as two journeys)
Bouts of food posioning: 1
Plates of stuffed crab eaten: 1 (and no, it didn’t cause the food poisoning!)
Photographs taken: 1600+
Hong Kong: The Summary
The big city was the first stop on the Adventure, taking in huge buildings, parks with flamingos in, a huge Buddha, the peak tram, a Michelin star restaurant, lots of shopping centres, a free light show and of course a day trip to Hong Kong Disneyland (I obviously couldn’t have gone all that way and not gone now could I?)
Hong Kong: The Highlights
- Riding all of the rides in Hong Kong Disneyland and staying from opening until closing!
- The experience of eating in a Michelin stared Dim Sum Restaurant, even if it is quite slimy!
- Riding the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car to the giant Buddha on Lantau Island and having to walk past wild cows in the street just to get there.
Hanoi & Ha Long Bay, Vietnam: The Summary
A quick flight, and all of a sudden I was in the capital city of Vietnam. Along with what felt like, every single scooter in the entir world! Traffic doesn’t stop for you in Hanoi, especially in the old quarter. You literally have to walk out into oncoming traffic and not stop even if you fear imminent death. Somehow everything does actually manage to go around you. Is it enjoyable? No. Do you genuinely feel like that would be the last time you ever cross a road? For the first few days at least.
Hanoi & Ha Long Bay, Vietnam: The Highlights
- The overnight stay in Ha Long Bay that included 6:30am Tai Chi, kayaking on the bay, a five course lunch that included the already mentioned stuffed crab, another five course evening meal, competitive games of uno, incredible views and a bacon toastie and pancakes for breakfast.
- Taking in the sites and learning about the past in a wide array of museums, temples and even an old prison!
- Walking around Hoan Kiem Lake on a weekend afternoon/ evening. Every man and their dog (all very small and fluffy) is there and you’ll witness; tug of war competitions, skipping challenges, groups of people playing keepy-uppy and groups of teenagers dancing full k-pop routines. Just be prepared to be stopped and asked to speak English to a lot of Vietnamese adults and children, and yes they really believe the stereotype that all English people enjoy afternoon tea daily!
Bangkok, Thailand: The Summary
The flight from Hanoi to Bangkok was another quick one and after a small customs queue a car dropped us in a very hot and humid Bangkok. Bangkok is a city of two halves; modern skyscrapers fill an area further away from the river, packed full of huge shopping centres, food courts, fancy hotels and sky bars. While nearer the river there’s the temples, the Grand Palace and the world famous Khao San Road. Bangkok was where I was introduced to the magic of 7 Eleven, however I didn’t eat that much for the first few days in Bangkok (had to get that food posioming out of my system before I could go mental).
Bangkok, Thailand: The Highlights
- Spending the morning visiting The Grand Palace wearing my new gap year style trousers (if we can ignore the fact they don’t actually have an elephant on that would be grand!)
- Wandering down Khao San Road while the sun was setting, watching the street come to life and the vendors selling everything from Chang beer T-shirt’s to fried cockroach on a stick!
- Visiting a sky bar and seeing Bangkok from a totally different viewpoint.
Arriving at Phuket International Airport and not having to go through any kind of immigration was an odd experience, but pretty quickly the bags were loaded into a car and Phuket Town was the first stop. After a few days it was time to board a very nice ferry and head over to see the beauty of th Phi Phi Islands, the blue waters and sandy beach is one of the nicest I’ve ever seen!
Phuket Town & Koh Phi Phi, Thailand: The Highlights
- Catching the Sunday night food market on Phuket Walking Street. Incredible food at every stall, bright coloured buildings, being surrounded by tourists and locals alike and watching the sun go down. Doubt you could get much better than that!
- Hiking to the view point on Phi Phi was tiring, sweaty and I did consider turning around at least twice; but I didn’t and once at viewpoint three the view of the whole island was totally worth it. The downside to this three hour expedition was that apparently there were stairs that would have made the journey about 20 minutes from bottom to top, but hey you live and learn right?!
- The food offerings on Phi Phi. Buy this point in the trip I as back to eating normally, and I enjoyed: stuffed cheesy garlic naan, fried rice and huge slices of deep pan pizza. Good food and a great view! What’s not to love?
So that is the first 30 days, the next 30 takes me to the other side of Phuket and then over to Bali before boarding a plane and hitting Australia! What a first month eh?
